While flywheels are well known in the art, there is very little application of flywheels to moving vehicles. Some flywheels have been used in automobile engines to smooth out the pulses of energy provided by the exploding gases in the cylinders and to provide energy for the compression stroke of the pistons. However, flywheels have not been used for the storage of kinetic energy within the automobile.
It would be highly desirable to utilize flywheel system to store kinetic energy in moving vehicles so that they can be loaded and energy drawn many times. For example, an automobile equipped with a kinetic energy storing flywheel could conserve a significant portion of that energy which is lost upon stopping the vehicle. Similarly, the energy wasted in stopping an automobile can also be conserved and applied in accelerating the automobile or supplying the automobile with electrical power. Such a kinetic energy system could have vast application in the field of electric automobiles or other electrically-powered vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,819,012, issued on Nov. 16, 2004 to C. W. Gabrys, describes a flywheel energy storage system which has an energy storage flywheel supported in a low pressure containment vessel for rotation on a bearing system. A brushless motor/generator is coupled to the flywheel for accelerating and decelerating the flywheel for storing and retrieving energy. The flywheel is rotated in normal operation at a speed such that the generator voltage is higher than the output voltage. The flywheel's power supply efficiently maintains power to an electrical load during an interruption of primary power by supplying power generated from the flywheel's generator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,595, issued on Jun. 16, 1998 to H. A. Rosen, provides a flywheel support system that isolates the flywheel and its motor-generator from the driving environment of an electrically-powered motor vehicle. During normal operation, a mechanical gimbal system keeps the vacuum housing centered in the outer housing, reacts the spin moments generated by the motor-generator, and provides a path for the electrical leads into the vacuum housing. A suitable liquid is placed between the outer and vacuum housings of the flywheel assembly to provide buoyancy and damping to the vacuum housing, cooling the motor-generator, and serving as one of the barriers to rotor energy and angular momentum transfer in the event of an accident or failure.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an energy recoverable wheel motor whereby the energy from braking can be transferred to the wheel for acceleration and whereby acceleration energy can be transmitted to the braking system.
Another object of the present invention is provide an energy recoverable wheel motor which avoids the use of battery storage.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an energy recoverable wheel motor which reduces the energy requirements of the moving vehicle.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.